Summit Educational Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222871770
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Summit, NJ, USA
Phone
9084008756
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$661,861
Expenses
$506,499
Assets
$7,268,741
Liabilities
$554,450

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA MADDEN (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • HEATHER THOMAS (CO-PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MELISSA MADDEN (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • HEATHER THOMAS (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • AMANDA DARNOWSKI (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To maintain and enhance the high quality of a summit, New Jersey public school education through community funding of innovative and essential educational grants, a close working relationship with the school district, and careful review, evaluation and financial oversight of supported initiatives.

What it reported doing in 2024

The endowment fund of the summit educational foundation provides funding for strategic long-term initiatives critical to the health of the district and its ability to provide an excellent educational experience for its students. The endowment fund was created as a way to ensure future funding to develop new curriculum initiatives and provide professional development to meet the needs of 21st century learners. During the fiscal year ended june 30, 2025, grant awarded totaled $183,335. The largest grant awards funded the following initiatives: middle school steam enhancement - $42,840young technicians: enhancing steam & theatre technology resources to support elementary theatre - $21,657at risk mentoring program grades/areas: grades 6-8 schools: lcjsms - $15,000

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.5%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.35; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 86.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $438K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.